1. Field of the Invention
The flash vortex brush apparatus relates to cleaning devices and more particularly to a rigid hollow tubular shaft comprising a coil cleaning brush apparatus for use with a pre-existing cleaning nozzle, for example, a pre-existing water nozzle of a type know in the art; or a pre-existing air nozzle of a type known in the art, the flash vortex brush device particularly efficient and effective in rapidly cleaning boreholes in solid substrates, for example, concrete boreholes, grout boreholes, masonry boreholes, and the like.
Problems exist in the current standard procedures for properly cleaning boreholes drilled in concrete, masonry, grout, and the like, that are intended to have various propriety anchors installed and bonded within them, according to anchor installation procedures of methods known in the art. Problems can include the longer amounts of time, money, and labor, it takes to clean boreholes under the standards and procedures currently used, and more importantly the dangerously inefficient and ineffective bonding of propriety anchors within boreholes due to second rate cleaning devices and methods currently used. Propriety anchors, such as anchors, wedge anchors, screwed in wedge anchors, driven anchors, adhesive anchors, anchor rods, bolts, dowels, steel bars, concrete reinforcing bars, threaded rods, threaded sleeve, reinforcing iron, bolts, dowels, steel bars, concrete reinforcing bars, are typical in such applications in the field. Anchors are typically bonded within the boreholes with various forms of epoxy, or catalyzed cements. Any failure of the anchor to bond within the borehole is unacceptable and can lead to fatal consequences, for example, the ceiling collapse in the Interstate 90 Connector Tunnel, Boston, Mass., Jul. 10, 2006, National Transportation Safety Board, ACCIDENT REPORT, NTSB/HAR-07/02 PB2007-916203. http://144.171.11.39/view.aspx?id=829017
On Jul. 10, 2006, a car occupied by a 46-year-old driver and his 38-year-old wife was traveling eastbound in the Interstate 90 connector tunnel in Boston, Mass., en route to Logan International Airport. As the car approached the end of the Interstate 90 connector tunnel, a section of the tunnel's suspended concrete ceiling became detached from the tunnel roof and fell onto the vehicle. Concrete panels from the ceiling crushed the right side of the vehicle roof as the car came to rest against the north wall of the tunnel. A total of about 26 tons of concrete and associated suspension hardware fell onto the vehicle and the roadway. The driver's wife, occupying the right-front seat, was fatally injured; the driver was able to escape with minor injuries. Major safety issues identified in this accident include insufficient understanding among designers and builders of the nature of adhesive anchoring systems; lack of standards for the testing of adhesive anchors in sustained tensile-load applications; inadequate regulatory requirements for tunnel inspections; and lack of national standards for the design of tunnel finishes. As a result of its investigation of this accident, the National Transportation Safety Board made safety recommendations to the Federal Highway Administration; the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials; the departments of transportation of the 50 States and the District of Columbia; the International Code Council; ICC Evaluation Service, Inc.; Powers Fasteners, Inc.; Sika Corporation; the American Concrete Institute the American Society of Civil Engineers; and the Asociated General Contractors of America.
Project documents attributed other test failures to insufficient curing time for the epoxy, holes that were drilled too deep, an inadequate amount of epoxy, and of importance here, holes that had not been properly cleaned. Epoxy Supplier's Recommended Procedures based relying on the second edition of the Powers Rawl Fastening System Design Manual, (PRFSDM) which was current at the time of the ceiling installation, addressed drilling and preparing anchor holes and using the product in cold weather. The PRFSDM, also, provided specific installation guidelines. For solid base materials, the (abridged) instructions are as follows:                Drill a hole to the size and embedment required.        Blow the hole clean with compressed air, brush the hole, and blow it clean again.        
Reports revealed, in the case of the ceiling anchor bolts, the above stated method was used, such that the hole would be blown out with an air compressor, brushed out with a nylon brush, and blown clean again and further, revealed the bolts failed after the ceiling panels were installed. Examination of the one anchor that had been removed, indicated that the anchor bolt was improperly installed. Upon examining of the pulled-out anchor, it appeared to lack sufficient epoxy to fully fill the drilled hole. In addition to other major deficiencies cited in the report, there was a significant amount of concrete dust adhered to the epoxy surrounding the bolt, usually an indication that the drilled hole was not completely cleaned out prior to installation; and there was evidence that the drill hole was not brushed clear; and the anchor was not free of dirt, oil or foreign matter.
Therefore, it is known to create a borehole in a solid substrate, for example, cement, masonry, grout, by drilling a borehole extending from the exterior surface has vital problems. The borehole may become soiled with materials such as drilling mud residue “mud cake,” fluid residue, and cement residue, adhering residues of the drilling dust, drilling mud, adhering fine-particle solids, which may substantially hamper subsequent down hole operations, and the satisfactory adherence of propriety anchors. In the drilling of boreholes in cement, cleaning steps must be introduced to ensure problem-free bonding of propriety anchors within the boreholes. To guarantee optimal bonding of the anchors, the borehole wall have to be freed from adhering residues of the drilling dust, drilling mud, adhering fine-particle solids, and dislodged residue. If this is not done, the layer of concrete is in danger of developing voids or channels which reduce the stability of the concrete.
In addition, residues of the drilling mud and the cement together can form a gelatinous mass which prevents the epoxy or catalyzed cements from setting so that the stability of the anchor bonded within the borehole is further reduced. In particular, all fine-particle solids still adhering to the wall of the borehole have to be removed to guarantee the performance of the epoxy or catalyzed cement. However, it becomes increasingly difficult to evacuate the debris and residue and detached debris, residue, scraped fine-particle solids, dust, out of the borehole in extended reach boreholes.
To that end, concrete inspectors typically inspect holes to determine their cleanliness prior to any anchor bonding therein. The cleaning process is regulated by the International Code Counsel which requires: (1) an Engineering Survey Report from the manufacturer of the anchor product for an approved process for installation of the specific anchor system; and (2) a licensed International Code Counsel Special Inspector be present during this process to verify compliance to manufacturer instructions. The current multi-step standard manufacturer procedure for cleaning holes drilled in concrete, masonry solid substrates for installation of propriety anchors is not fully accomplishing effective cleaning of boreholes. The typical procedure used in the field includes the method steps: Step 1. The hole is blown clean by a tube being inserted to the bottom of the borehole with air being blown through the tube to remove free standing drilling debris and residue. Step 2. The hole is manually brushed using a conical brush typically sold by the epoxy manufacturer. Step 3. The hole is blow out a second time by inserting the tube to the bottom of the drilled borehole. This standard procedure frequently yields minimal cleaning of the boreholes, leaving the drilled boreholes insufficiently cleaned and ill prepared to bond to propriety anchors therein. Several deficiencies in the current standard procedure include: use of an undersized brush; the amount of brushing actual performed is minimal; the flow of air is not sufficient to completely evacuate the drilling debris and residue. In other cases, the boreholes become damp creating the formation of a gel or paste formed from the concrete dust and debris which cannot be removed under the current standards including the velocity of air and size of brush. In the past, such concrete holes are cleaned by hand with a brush that is inserted into each hole. Obviously, this is a laborious, time consuming task. To add to the difficulty, holes are drilled into the concrete at particularly specific depths. Any cleaning must be certain of reaching the full depth of each hole, with the typically angled or conical borehole bottom surface, also, in need of being thoroughly cleaned.
Therefore, a number of devices and apparatuses have been developed to facilitate cleaning and removal of the residue, debris, incorporating brushes and other agitators, power tools. However, these devices and methods have been found to be unreliable or ineffective in the cleaning and the removing of material, residue, debris, dust, and the like from the borehole interior channel leading to improper anchor installation and attachment by epoxy or catalyst cements. These inefficiencies are costly to manufacturers, construction companies, and most importantly to human life. Therefore, there is a need for an improved apparatus and method to provide superior cleaning of boreholes which will be bonded to propriety anchors, including a borehole device and method to reach extended borehole depths.
2. Background Art of the Invention
A number of devices and apparatuses have been developed to facilitate cleaning and removal of the residue, debris, incorporating brushes and other agitators, power tools. However, these devices and methods have been found to be cumbersome, ineffective, time consuming, or costly, in removing the residue, debris, dust, and the like from the borehole interior channel. Prior patent references include U.S. Pat. No. 7,958,587 to Hansen describes a concrete hole brush apparatus including a tool and method for rapidly and effectively cleaning holes drilled in concrete. The apparatus comprises a conical brush attached to one end of a solid shaft; and the opposing end chucks into a variety of power drills, with the shaft size reduced to a chuck tip for best fit to those drills. The cylindrically brush sizes include ½ inch, ⅝ inch, ¾ inch, ⅞ inch, 1 inch, 1 1/⅛ inch, 1¼ inch.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,712,520 to Hetts describing a brush for a well bore casing comprising A brush for removing debris from a well bore casing, the brush comprising: a cylindrical base ring having front and rear edges, an outer surface, and adapted to be affixed to well tools; and a plurality of bristle assemblies circumscribing the outer surface of the base ring, each bristle assembly including a plurality of bristles, the bristles extending radially outward from the bristle assembly, the bristles of the bristle assemblies forming a brushing surface having a front face and a rear face; wherein a channel extends through the brushing surface from the front face to the rear face and having a depth extending radially inward from the brushing surface, the channel being substantially free of bristles; and wherein each bristle assembly includes an inner member having a channeled cross-section, and a retaining ring; and wherein each bristle has first and second ends, the bristles extending around the retaining ring so that a portion of each bristle is located between the inner member and the retaining ring, the retaining ring securing the bristles to the inner member at approximately their center, and wherein the ends of each bristle extend radially from the bristle assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,543,354 to Lee describing a brush head for automatic dissolution vessel cleaner comprising a brush head for cleaning a vessel, comprising: a rotatable shaft defining a through passage, an upper end of said passage being couplable to a vacuum source; an inflow housing having at least one channel through which cleaning fluid is pumped, said shaft being rotatably mounted to said housing; and a brush assembly mounted on said shaft below said housing, a lower end of said passage being situated below said brush assembly, whereby when the brush head is inserted into the vessel, cleaning fluid is directed through said at least one channel into the vessel while said shaft rotates causing said brush assembly mounted thereon to rotate and clean an inner wall of the vessel with the fluid in the vessel being drawn into said passage via said lower end of said passage upon coupling of said upper end of said passage to the vacuum source.
Pat. Publication No. US2009/0288682 to Glogger describing a borehole cleaning device comprising a tubular shaft having a front opening with a shaft hollow space opening into the front opening, a region adjoining the front opening, a suction opening provided in an end region of the shaft opposite the region adjoining the front opening and a region adjacent to the suction opening and extending at an angle to the region of the shaft adjoining the front opening for forming a handle; and a plurality of brush members provided on the region of the shaft adjoining the front opening and extending radially outwardly.